Hair coloration is often a difficult, messy and complex procedure even for hair care professionals. There are numerous products in the hair color industry available to the hair care professional that help tint a person's hair. These include pigmented shampoos, weekly rinses, semi-permanent hair colors, permanent or peroxide hair colors and deposit only hair colors. Many of these products, especially the longer lasting hair colors, require the mixing of chemical components. Thus, hair care professionals have a need to consistently and repeatably blend and apply the hair coloration products.
As an example, in deposit only, or semi permanent hair colors, the hair color utilizes oxidative type dyes that require the addition of a catalyst. When first mixed, the chemical reaction between the components is most active. As time elapses and the formula is applied to the hair the peroxide and ammonia begin to dissipate, thereby reducing the immediate effectiveness. Since the life span of the hair dyes quickly decays with elapsed time, it would be useful to have a device that allows one to apply the hair coloration to the hair as soon after mixture as possible.
Another problem faced by hair care professionals is that a plurality of dyes may be mixed to achieve the desired color. If the one of the dyes is not completely mixed within the other dyes, then, upon activation, inhomogeneity or pockets of color may occur. This inhomogeneity in coloration is unwanted by both the client and the professional. Moreover, it is possible that if poorly mixed, one dye may be activated to a greater degree that of other dyes. Since the useful life span of a dye, once activated, is relatively short, disparate activation times can also lead to incongruous results. Therefore, it would be useful to have a device that would quickly and efficiently mix the chemical components.
Therefore there is a current and continuing need for devices that aid in the complete mixing and application of chemical hair coloration compounds. The present inventors have addressed these and other needs, in particular, the problems of complete and repeatable mixing of components followed by immediate application of the resultant mixture. The present invention provides a solution enables even the unskilled to repeatedly prepare and apply well-mixed dye formulations, without mess or inconvenience.